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Published: October 24th 2005
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We slept a full 12 hours so were ready to go! We picked up a few goodies at our neighborhood patisserie and headed out. Our last trip to Paris was a week long so we got a Carte Musee and spent a lot of time at museums. I highly recommend this. Fair warning though - the Louvre is closed Tuesdays, and most other museums at least 1 day a week so plan your time carefully! However, this time around we decided not to repeat too much and opted for churches and gardens instead.
Our first stop was Saint Sulpice - anyone, anyone?? It’s mentioned in the Da Vinci Code if you’re into that. There is an amazing sundial on one side with a line of brass that bisects the church floor. The sun shines in through a stained glass window on different points along the line at the equinoxes and solstices. Pretty neat.
We then strolled through the Luxembourg Gardens. The Palace at one end now houses the French Senate. We sat there next to the fountain imagining living in the Palace and looking out on the gardens each day….ahhh, the good life!
A church here, a fountain
Courtyard
Outside St. Sulpice. there, and it was time for a break at Angelina, the famous salon du thé on the Rue de Rivoli near the Louvre. They serve the best hot chocolate in the world. Just as J compares every beach he ever visits to the sands of Lindquist, we compare every hot chocolate to this stuff. It’s thick, it’s rich, it’s quite simply amazing!
Dining times are very different in Paris. Breakfast is small - pain du chocolate or croissant and coffee or tea. Lunch is at 1:30 and consists of soup/salad/customary ham and cheese sandwich. Tea/hot chocolate is between 3-6. Most restaurants open for dinner around 7, but won’t be bustling until at least 8:30. I have a hard time with this schedule, being a morning person and early to bed most days, but I can certainly see the benefits of the leisurely life! Work weeks are mandated at 35 hours. 5 weeks of vacation is normal.
Another comment about French food…portions are small but immensely satisfying. Real cheese, real butter, real cream, high quality chocolate…these are staples. I can see why “French Women Don’t Get Fat” is a bestseller in the US. French women eat small portions of
REAL food, and they take the Metro (think stairs) and walk everywhere they need to go. They are definitely on to something…
So during this “dead time” between 6-8 PM when everything is basically closed, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Last time we went in the morning, so decided it would be fun to go at night this time around! It worked out perfectly with the lines and such that we made it to the top just after dark. J’s tripod paid off and he came away with some amazing shots. To our surprise and delight, every hour on the hour the entire tower lights up with what must be thousands of blinking lightbulbs. The fun thing about attractions like the Eiffel Tower is the variety of people you see there. We heard so many different languages being spoken while in line, the least of which was French!
We had been looking forward to dinner at our favorite bistro on the Ile de St. Louis for a long time. Last time we ate there they had live jazz and we shared a plate of frog legs with a couple from New Zealand. When we made it back
Sundial
Apparently mystical. Really it's just a sundial, albeit very accurate. at 10:30, we found it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. There weren’t many other places still open for dinner at that hour (lots of diners lingering over wine, but kitchens closed for the most part) so we had to find a spot fast or there would be no dinner for us! We attempted to enter one place with a lively crowd and ended up becoming the main attraction. The (Australian?) chef came into the street, took off my coat, put it on himself, and paraded around in it. He was completely drunk of course. He offered us wine on the house and was quite put out when we refused. After getting my coat back, we continued on and did find a place to accommodate us around the corner. The tables had glass tops covering sand and seashells and a dumbwaiter from which the waiter extracted plates from the kitchen downstairs. For dessert, I had my eye on the chocolate mousse but they were out of it and so ordered the fondant chocolat suggested to me instead. Somewhat disappointed because I didn’t know what to expect, imagine my surprise when a molten chocolate cake (still hot inside) with vanilla bean
ice cream on top arrived! J’s jaw dropped in envy even though the crème brulée on his plate looked fabulous as well.
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candice
non-member comment
looks like fun
hi guys- been reading your travelblog, looks like you are having a great time! Havea a cafe au lait for me! Enjoy. hope to hook up soon. Candice